The Hat
by CSIBuckeye
Summary: If I wrote for the show, this is how I would end things.


It was the hat.

She had initially loathed that misshapen straw monstrosity. But as she'd come to realize just how "him" it was, she had come to love it almost as much as the man who wore it. That's what caught Sara's eye as she made her way through the throng of people disembarking the Sea Shepherd, and it stopped her dead in her tracks.

She didn't move, didn't breathe, and tried in vain not to hope as she craned her neck in an attempt to get a better look. Raising herself up on her tiptoes didn't help so she hopped up and down and contorted herself trying to see around the people who passed by. Those watching her must have thought she was having some kind of fit, but she never noticed any of them. Through it all she never took her eyes off that hat. Just the sight of it took her back to some of the happiest moments in her life.

The camera duel was one of her favorite memories and she carried that photo of Grissom in her wallet. It was everything she had loved in him…the crooked smile, the intensity on his face as he worked the scene, the glimmer of mischief in his eye. But more than that it had been a rare glimpse of the man who shared her bedroom in the man who ran her lab. And it had just been such an unexpected moment of levity, a surprise that had made her heart dance. But just underneath that, she could see the fear etched into his face and it had reflected heavily in his eyes long after his friend had come home from the hospital. And for her, it had been one of the first of many times when she'd realized just how wrong she'd once been and just how much Gil Grissom really felt.

He'd even had that damn hat on the first time he'd told her he loved her. Well, in his Grissom sort of way anyhow. They'd been working the case when he'd volunteered that sex without love made him sad, and that she in fact made him happy. There in his Logic 101 phrasing she'd been able to decipher the answer she'd desperately sought, even if they hadn't been the exact words she'd been hoping for. It hadn't mattered to her in the least. She'd known what he was saying and so had he, and for the first time neither of them had shied away from that truth. It had felt like a fire had bloomed in her chest with his answer that day and she felt the same spark leap to life as she remembered it.

And then of course there had been the day with the bees. She still wasn't sure how he'd managed to attach his bee keeper's protective netting to his Panama Grissom hat, but he had. And as he'd scraped the stinger from her hand and looked up at her from under the brim of his hat, his eyes had been filled with joy, excitement and more than a little anxiety. In that one look she knew her answer, and it was her heart that replied before she had time to fully consider it. When all the gear had muddled their kiss and he'd grinned at her sheepishly, she'd fallen just a little more in love. But it had all been marred by the shadow of her time in the desert. And in the end, even the hope they'd felt that day hadn't been enough to hold her there.

That had been the last time she'd seen the hat, and the last time she remembered feeling truly happy. And then it was moving…heading directly for her like it was being drawn to her by a magnet. People seemed to just part to let it through, there wasn't even any weaving through the masses. When he finally stepped free of the crowd she could see that it wasn't just the hat, but the shirt too. And then she was so far beyond happy she was sure they hadn't invented the word for it yet.

And that's all it took. She dropped her duffel bag and broke into a run, a wide smile transforming her face. His arms enveloped her and she felt herself lifted off the ground as they came together. Nothing else mattered. All the pain they'd put each other through was gone, forgiven in the press of their lips. The weight of their losses was lifted, cast into the sky by the force of their spinning embrace.

She reached up and touched his cheek, watching his eyes close as gratitude washed over his face. Feeling the echo deep inside her chest, she leaned up and kissed him softly. "Are you really here?"

His eyes fluttered open and he reached up to gently cup her face in both of his hands. "It took me a long time to figure out," he said as he ran his thumbs slowly over her cheekbones, "But I've never really been anywhere else. No matter where you've been or where I've been, the best part of me has always been with you."

Tears brimmed in her eyes with the power of his words, but she swallowed them back. There would be no more crying today. "So you're staying?"

"That's up to you," he said, putting all his hopes on display for her, "But I'd like to." The answer in her eyes almost took his breath away. It was equal parts forgiveness and determination, and he knew in that instant just how truly lucky he was. "And I'm planning to spend every day we're together making you forget we were ever apart."

"Starting when?" She wouldn't have wiped the crazy grin off her face even if she could have. It felt too good to wear it.

"As soon as you take me home," he said, matching her smile.

She grabbed his hand and tugged him back to pick up her bag before leading him through town to the small apartment she rented. "I do have one request," she said as she reached for the door knob.

"Anything. Just name it."

His eyes were bright with that promise and she knew he meant it absolutely. Her heart swelled with the knowledge that this was a new beginning for them, a clean slate to build a future on. And she planned to fill it with lots of happy new memories.

Twining her arms around his neck she brought her lips to his ear and whispered, "Leave your hat on?"


End file.
